EDITORIAL: Time to move on

(Except for in South Carolina where we still have to deal with thousands of write-in votes to be counted, but that’s another issue that has made this an even more cantankerous election season.)

As trite and cliched as it may sound, it is time to move on.

In the race for president, there could be only one winner. Both sides fought the good fight. We leave it to the torturous political pundits to analyze the missteps and the right steps – we are moving on.

And we encourage all of you to do the same.

The nation’s voters have spoken. And while this has been said, and said again, we all must come together, reach across the aisle and rebuild the “united” in “United States.”

That goes for our local and state offices as well. A lot of nasty things were said by many – you can’t take it back, but you can put it behind you. Come together. Listen to the other side. Step out of your comfort zone, away from your inner circle and listen thoughtfully. You will be surprised what you can learn.

In his victory speech early Wednesday morning, President Obama said it well: “I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.”

Mitt Romney was equally as eloquent in his concession speech. “The nation, as you know, is at a critical point. At a time like this we can’t risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people’s work, and we citizens also have to rise to occasion.”

We are one nation. We will disagree. We will bicker. We will dig our heels in sometimes and get frustrated when others do the same. We are all individuals who have had the privilege of living in a country where we have the means to form our own ideas and the right to express them.

In short, we have the privilege to be different. Cling to that idea, open your eyes, and let’s come together to make our country, state, county and city even stronger.

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